This invention relates generally to telecommunication, and more particularly to usage of telephone lines or links, as for example via wire or wireless.
There is need, for commercial reasons, for maintaining or increasing telephone communication, as via telephone company lines or line segments. Such need becomes acute, considering encroachment of communication as via internet users.
It is a major object of the invention to provide a business method, and system, to meet the above need. Basically, the method of the invention, for increasing or maintaining usage of a telephone company""s lines, as via telephony, includes the steps:
a) establishing a lottery fund, and an associated lottery fund telephone number,
b) providing a protocol by which a telephone user becomes eligible to win funds in said lottery fund, provided the following conditions are met:
i) the user uses the telephone company""s line or line segment, or connections, to make a call to said associated fund telephone number,
ii) the user""s identifier is provided and communicated to the telephone company or to said lottery fund, and
c) selecting at least one such communicated user identifier from a group of such communicated identifiers, which identifies a winner of some or all of the funds in the pool or fund.
Another object is to provide for debit of the user""s account with the telephone company, or selected company, by a selected amount or amounts, to provide funding for the lottery fund. That account may be a credit card account. Further, usage of the telephone company""s line or line segment to make the call may require payment to the telephone company.
A further object includes monitoring incoming calls to the fund telephone number to determine whether or not they are incoming via said telephone company""s line or line segment, or connections, to determine win eligibility.
Yet another object is to provide for use of the caller""s pin number as the identifier which identifies a user as a potential winner of funds in the pool.
An additional object is to operate the system or method nationally, or in states where lotteries are legal.